Ireland’s Oppn falls short of majority

Ahern said he was confident that parliament would elect him as Ireland’s youngest prime minister at the age of 45 when it reconvenes on June 26 but refused to be drawn on the support he would need to carry out policies to cut crime and taxes. Both he and Bruton had ruled out any electoral survival pact with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrillas, which won one seat and will take its place in the assembly for the first time since the 1920s. Financial experts said the absence of a clear-cut result was the least attractive outcome but doubted it would unsettle Irish or international markets, which are focused on domestic currency concerns and a possible delay in the EMU start date. “While it was the least favoured outcome and will create uncertainty, and market reaction will be muted ,” said Pat o’Sullivan, economist with Dublin’s capital markets.